Okmulgee State Park
| Okmulgee State Park | |
| Oklahoma State Park | |
 Sunrise over Okmulgee Lake
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| named for: Okmulgee, Oklahoma | |
| Country | United States |
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| State | Oklahoma |
| County | Okmulgee County |
| Elevation | 758 ft (231 m) |
| Coordinates | 35°36′01″N 96°03′35″W / 35.60028°N 96.05972°WCoordinates: 35°36′01″N 96°03′35″W / 35.60028°N 96.05972°W |
| Area | 1,075 acres (435 ha) |
| Established | 1963 |
| Management | Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department |
 Location of Okmulgee State Park in Oklahoma
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| Website: Okmulgee State Park | |
Okmulgee State Park is an Oklahoma state park in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma in the United States. The park is 1,075 acres (435 ha) and sits at an elevation of 758 feet (231 m). The park is adjacent to Dripping Springs State Park and is located on Okmulgee Lake. Okmulgee State Park, established in 1963, is open for year-round recreation including camping, fishing, swimming and hiking.
Okmulgee State Park is on land that was at the bottom of a vast inland sea 200 to 350 million years ago. The rocks at the park date back to the Pennsylvanian Period. Okmulgee and neighboring Dripping Springs State Parks are two of the very few places in the world where the rare fossil, Gymnophyllum wardi also known as "button coral", can be found.
The Muscogee Indians were forced from their homes in Alabama, Florida and Georgia in the 1830s. They relocated in what was then known as Indian Territory under the authority of President Andrew Jackson and settled on a spring which they named, Okmulgee, meaning bubbling or boiling water. When Jackson was elected president in 1829 the government stance toward Indians changed. Jackson abandoned the policy of his predecessors of treating different Indian groups as separate nations. Instead, he aggressively pursued plans to move all Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi River to what is now Oklahoma.
At Jackson's request, the United States Congress opened a debate on an Indian Removal Bill. In the end, the bill passed, but the vote was close. The Senate passed the measure 28 to 19, while in the House it passed by, 102 to 97. Jackson signed the legislation into law June 30, 1830.
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